The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3)

by D. E. Haggerty

  “How do you even know there’s something wrong?” Jack nearly growled.

  Betty snorted. “Seriously. Noel comes rushing home during the daytime and then up pulls your car with another one on its heels.”

  Jack raised an eyebrow at Ally. “Don’t you have anything else to do,” he asked. Ally’s cheeks turned pink at the insinuation that she was the neighborhood look out, but she didn’t deny the accusation.

  Wyatt stared at the group of silver-haired senior citizens with wide eyes. “What’s going on? Who are these people?” Although Wyatt had met Izzy’s grandma and her neighbor Ally on more than one occasion while he and Jack were dating, he’d never met her knitting posse.

  Jack gestured to the group. “These are the Jessica Fletcher wannabes.”

  The ladies huffed. “Wannabes my ass,” Betty stated.

  “Betty!” Ally’s voice was indignant.

  “We’re not wannabes, we’re the real thing,” Rosemary responded.

  “Someone better explain what’s going on before I decide, fuck it and go to the police station,” Wyatt stated with no small amount of venom in his voice.

  Noel cleared his throat. “You do know I’m a homicide detective, don’t you?” When Wyatt nodded, he started to continue, but Izzy stopped him with a hand on his arm.

  “Sweetie, calm down.” He growled at her but nodded. “These women are my grandma’s knitting club. When Grandma was killed, they helped me solve the murder.” Noel growled again, but Izzy just smiled at him. “Of course, Noel pitched in as well.”

  Wyatt threw his hands in the air. “That’s nice and all, but why are they here now? This is none of their business.”

  “Watch your tone young man,” Betty scowled.

  “If something’s wrong with Jack, we’re here to help.” Rose’s voice was quiet but held a hint of steel.

  “So.” Izzy turned to Jack. “You were saying?”

  Wyatt’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when Jack started to speak. “You can’t be serious! You’re going to involve these old biddies in our business!”

  The women stood as one, but Noel responded before anyone else could. “I’ll ask you to have some respect for the ladies while you’re in our home.” They sat again and nodded.

  Jack laid a hand on Wyatt’s arm. “It’s fine. They can keep a secret and who knows, maybe they’ll be useful.”

  Wyatt stared at the hand on his arm and nodded. Jack quickly withdrew his hand. “Okay, we don’t know much but this is what we do know.” He leaned back in his chair. Jack’s explanation only took a few minutes because, after all, there wasn’t much to tell. Money was rolling in, the store was hectic, Eric was too busy, they hired someone new, and now the money wasn’t rolling.

  Rose cleared her throat and looked to Betty for assurance. When Betty nodded, she spoke. “I’m just an accountant, not a forensic accountant, but I can take a look for you if you like.” Her voice was so soft that Jack could barely hear her.

  Jack’s mouth hung open. “Just an accountant?” He repeated and then shook his head. “Okay, first of all, what’s a forensic accountant?”

  “It’s an accountant who specializes in investigating financial records such as finding false reporting, cheating, etc.,” Noel responded but looked to Rose for confirmation. She nodded in agreement.

  Jack stared at Rose for a minute. Her face turned pink, but she didn’t look away. Jack glanced at Wyatt and raised an eyebrow. Wyatt grimaced as if he were in physical pain, but gave the smallest of nods. “Okay, I’ll give Damien a day off or something, and you can come into the office and have a look.”

  Chapter 11

  To tuck certain assets away

  Jack ordered Damien to take a day off. Knowing that his job was on the line, Damien quickly agreed. When Jack arrived at Fabulous, Darling at 9 a.m. on Damien’s off day, a carload of elderly matrons convinced they were a team of detectives was already waiting for him. He didn’t know whether he should sigh in relief or turn his car around and run far, far away.

  The women poured out of Rose’s car and Jack ushered them into his office. “Damien’s office is tiny, ladies. I don’t think you will all fit.” Jack silently prayed that they didn’t want to sit in his office.

  “That’s fine. We’re going to check out the store while Rose does her thing,” responded Betty.

  Shit. That was even worse. “Um,” Jack desperately tried to think of an excuse. “It’s not open yet.”

  “But there’s someone here already. We saw him arrive,” Martha commented.

  Jack hung his head. There was nothing he could say or do. “Let me show Rose to Damien’s office.” Since Damien couldn’t work in Eric’s office and Jack didn’t want to be that close to temptation, a large storage closet had been converted into a small office for Damien. The room held a desk, chair, and filing cabinet. There wasn't space for anything else.

  Jack sat Rose in Damien’s chair and started the computer for her. “You do know how to use a computer, don’t you?”

  Rose nodded quickly, her face flushed in excitement. “I just hope the accounting program isn’t some newfangled one.”

  Jack leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “When was the last time you worked as an accountant, Rose?” Probably should have asked that sooner.

  “I stopped working when the kids were born.” Since she was a great-grandmother, that was a while ago. Jack rubbed his chest to calm the burn her words had created. “But I volunteer at the church to handle their finances. And of course, I do everyone’s taxes.” Well, he’d take what he could get.

  “So how much money are we talking here?”

  Jack scrunched his eyes at Betty’s question. “What do you mean?”

  “I think she wants to know how much money you think is missing,” Rose explained.

  Jack nodded, somewhat reassured that asking Rose to have a look at the finances wasn’t completely crazy. “About ten grand right now.”

  Rose nodded and started the financial software. Jack left her to it and guided the rest of the herd into the store. “This is it, ladies. Welcome to Fabulous, Darling.”

  They looked around in awe. “The store is basically divided into two areas. On this side,” he pointed to the left. “We have everything for the cross-dresser in your family. From ball gowns to shoes to hair accessories to underwear.”

  “Underwear,” Betty repeated. “Why do you need cross-dressing underwear?”

  Jack’s face pinked slightly. “Well, you know, to tuck certain assets away.”

  The ladies giggled and glanced at his package, which was obviously not tucked away. Clearing his throat and resisting temptation to cover his family jewels with his hands, Jack continued. “And on this side, we have the big and beautiful section for women. Although women do buy from both sides on occasion.”

  “Which section is more successful,” asked Rosemary.

  “Well,” Jack shrugged. “It depends on how you look at it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We sell more items from the big and beautiful section, but the cross-dressing section makes more money as the items are more expensive,” Jack explained.

  “Okay, ladies, that’s it.” Jack opened the door to the rear offices and waited on the women. They didn’t move. “You can’t stay out here.”

  “Why not?” Rosemary raised her eyebrow.

  “We won’t cause any trouble,” Martha chimed in.

  “We just want to have a look around,” Ally’s quiet voice agreed.

  Betty said nothing but stood in front of her posse with eyebrows raised at Jack. Did he really think he was going to get away with a tour? Danny, the floor manager, chose that moment to approach. “Hello!”

  As one, the female group turned to check out the man. They weren’t disappointed. Danny resembled a Norse god with long blond hair, clear blue eyes, a strong jaw, and a body built to fight with Thor. A collective sigh from the ladies had Danny smirking. Jack desperately tried to get Danny’
s attention, but the man ignored him and poured his charm on.

  “Now, darlings, what can I do for you?” Jack was forgotten as the group followed Danny further into the store. It was his funeral.

  An hour later Danny rushed into Jack’s office, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it for support. “You have to get those women out of the store.”

  “What’s going on?” Jack didn’t even want to imagine what they were getting up to.

  “They are rearranging all the clothes.” Jack raised an eyebrow. “According to color! They’re color coordinating the entire store!”

  With a sigh, Jack stood and followed Danny into the store. The three store attendants were rushing around behind the ladies, returning clothes to their original places as quickly as the ladies were grabbing clothes and moving them around. Luckily, there weren’t any customers at the moment. Jack shook his head and whistled. Everyone stopped. He approached the group.

  “What’s going on?” He asked with a plastic smile pasted on his face.

  “How can anyone find an outfit in this store?” asked Betty.

  “There’s no rhyme or reason to where clothes are placed,” added Martha.

  Rosemary and Ally nodded in agreement, arms loaded with clothes.

  “Remember Wyatt?” Jack asked.

  The ladies scrunched their noses but nodded.

  “This,” Jack made a circle of the store with his finger. “Is his thing. If he catches you moving things around, he’s going to go ballistic.”

  “But he’s not here right now,” Betty shrugged. “So there’s nothing to worry about?”

  Jack shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that.” The door chimed and in walked a group of men. Luckily, the ladies were in the big and beautiful section. The men didn’t even notice them as they moved toward the ball gowns. Jack lowered his voice. “You can’t just come into my store and move things around.”

  “I don’t see why not. Your system wasn’t working.” Betty’s voice was loud and proud.

  Jack needed reinforcements. He pulled out his phone and dialed Izzy’s number.

  “Hey Jack,” Noel answered.

  “I need help. Where’s Izzy?” Jack didn’t bother with a greeting.

  “What’s going on?” Noel instantly turned detective mode to on.

  “Betty and her tribe are making a mess in my store,” Jack whined.

  Noel laughed. “What are they doing?”

  “They’re trying to color coordinate all the clothes.”

  Noel continued to laugh. “Is that bad?”

  “I’m going to lose all my employees at this rate.”

  “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

  “Get them out of here!” Jack just managed to stop himself from stomping his foot.

  Noel grunted. “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “I don’t know. That’s why I called Izzy. Where is she?”

  Noel was quiet for a moment. “Okay, I can get the gals out of there, but Izzy’s gonna be pissed at me. So you’ll owe me big time.”

  “Whatever you need, man,” Jack quickly agreed.

  “Are you somewhere private?” Noel asked, and Jack quickly stepped through the door into the back offices and stood in the hallway. “Yeah.”

  “Izzy’s pregnant.” Noel dropped his bomb.

  Jack didn’t respond. He couldn’t have heard correctly. “Um, what?”

  “Yeah,” Noel chuckled. “You heard me right.”

  “How does that help me?” Jack asked, momentarily confused. “Oh wait, never mind. Are you ready for the invasion?”

  Noel groaned. “I’ve been expecting it for some time.”

  “Thanks, man. I owe you.” Jack hung up the phone and went back to the store. “Ladies,” he said as he approached them. “I have news. Can you put those down and follow me?” Jack motioned to one of the cashiers to grab the clothes before he led the group to his office.

  “What is it? Did Rose find something already?” Betty asked.

  “Wow that was quick,” Ally added.

  Jack didn’t respond but herded the brood into his office and shut the door behind him. “I just talked to Noel,” he said. “Izzy’s pregnant.”

  “Finally,” Ally responded.

  “Finally?”

  The women looked at each other and shrugged. “We’ve known for weeks, but we were waiting for her to officially tell us.”

  Jack shook his head. Of course, they’d known. “Well, what are we waiting for?” Betty barked out. “I’ll just get Rose’s keys from her.”

  Jack stopped them. There was no way in hell he was going to miss this. “I’ll drive you. We’ll leave Rose’s car for her here.”

  Chapter 12

  It is what it is

  With four elderly women babbling away in excitement in his car, Jack made haste to Izzy’s house. Noel was waiting on the front porch for them. Ally jumped out of the car and headed toward her house. “I’ll be right back,” she shouted as she hurried across the lawn. Jack didn’t even know she could speak louder than a whisper. The remaining group stormed the porch where Noel was holding them back.

  “She’s not having a great morning, ladies,” he said with his hands held up to slow them down. He stood staring at them and blocking the door until they got the idea and calmed down their excited chatter. He nodded in satisfaction and opened the door.

  Izzy sat on the sofa in the living room holding a bottle of ginger ale and a box of saltine crackers. Her eyes were wide as the silver-haired squad invaded. “Congratulations!” They nearly shouted as one.

  Betty approached first and hugged Izzy. “Your grandma would be so happy!” One by one each of the ladies hugged Izzy and whispered their congratulations. Izzy’s eyes watered and she looked to Noel for support, but Jack got their first.

  “Baby girl,” he said as he pulled her off of the sofa into his arms. “When were you going to tell me?”

  She clung to him and sniffled. After a few moments, Noel came and snatched Izzy from Jack’s arms. “We were waiting for the end of the first trimester,” he answered.

  “How far along are you dear?” Rosemary asked.

  “Fourteen weeks. The doctor said the morning sickness would be better by now but…” her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “That’s why we didn’t tell you right away when it was safe. I haven’t been feeling up to it.” She glared at Jack. Noel wasn’t the only one he owed a favor.

  Ally entered the living room with a large bag and rushed to Izzy. “I’m so happy for you. I wish Anna was here.”

  Anna was Izzy’s grandmother. She had been murdered a year ago when she refused to give up the mining rights to her land and a worker at the mining company went off the rails to try and force her hand.

  “Me too. She wanted a great-grandchild so much, but I couldn’t give her one while she was alive.” Izzy’s eyes watered again. Noel sat and pulled her into his lap.

  Ally grabbed a small gift bag from inside the large sack she was holding. “I hope you don’t mind, but I think Anna would approve,” she said and handed the gift to Izzy.

  Izzy opened the bag and peered in. She immediately collapsed and started crying. Noel turned her around, placed her head on his shoulder, and held her close while she cried. After a few minutes, she sniffed and turned back to the bag. She pulled the knitted onesie from within. “It’s the onesie Grandma always had in her knitting basket,” Izzy whispered to Noel, who nodded in understanding. She turned to Ally. “But how?”

  Ally smiled. “We’ve known you were pregnant for weeks.” Noel laughed and Jack shook his head. Of course, they did. “I snuck the onesie out of your grandma’s knitting basket and finished it off a while back. We were just waiting for you to officially tell us.”

  Ally handed the large sack to the other members of the knitting club and they each pulled out a gift bag. Betty had knitted a baby blanket, Rosemary, a few booties, and Martha, some onesies. “Wow,” Izzy said after she unwrapped her gifts. “
Thanks ladies.” Noel nodded and smiled in agreement.

  “There’s something in there from Rose as well, but I’ll let her give it to you herself,” Ally said and put the bag away.

  “So what happened, Izzy?” Jack asked after things quieted down a bit. “I thought you didn’t want children.”

  Izzy’s faced turned pink. “I didn’t want children with Ryan,” she admitted.

  “But you want to have alpha children with Noel?” Jack joked, but Izzy’s face turned a dark shade of red. Jack raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”

  “It was an accident,” whispered Izzy while Noel smiled in triumph.

  “An accident? Do you need a biology lesson, Iz?” Jack waggled his eyebrows at her. Noel burst out laughing.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Noel responded and then grunted when Izzy elbowed him in the stomach.

  Jack sat across from Izzy and Noel rubbing his hands together. “Do tell.”

  “Well, um…”

  “Spit it out, Iz.” Jack had no patience if the gossip was good.

  When Izzy wouldn’t respond, Noel did. “She thought she was too old to get pregnant and so …” He shrugged.

  “Izzy Archer!” Betty yelled. Noel glared at her. “Err… Izzy Blackburn! You should know better, young lady!” Ally, Rosemary, and Martha nodded in agreement. “It is a woman’s responsibility to ensure she is protected.”

  “That’s not fair,” pouted Izzy.

  “It is what it is,” responded Rosemary. “You’re the one with the bun in the oven. Not the hunk behind you.”

  Noel placed his big hand over Izzy’s stomach and pulled her close to him. “That may be so, but we’re married and we’re in this together.” He kissed Izzy’s forehead and then leaned back against the sofa, taking Izzy with him. Noel’s smile of happiness nearly blinded Jack.

  “I’m happy for you, Iz. Whatever you need.” Jack grinned at Izzy.

  “I’m thinking this baby is gonna have five grandmas,” Izzy stated. The soon-to-be grandmas smiled and nodded. They gathered up the loose wrapping paper and headed off to the kitchen to make coffee and scrounge up a snack for the group.